Stephen Bunting holds nerve to edge into second round of World Championship
By Andy Hampson, Press Association
Fourth seed Stephen Bunting survived a scare before scraping into the second round of the World Championship on Sunday.
The Merseysider, a beaten semi-finalist last year, was taken to a tie-breaker by Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki before edging through 3-2 at Alexandra Palace.
Bunting was pegged back after making a superb start and averaging 119.4 as he powered through the first set. Victory had seemed within his grasp as he recorded a 160 checkout on his way to taking the second set.
But ‘The Bullet’ cooled and won just one leg over the next two sets, allowing Bialecki – oblivious to a wasp that landed on his shoulder – to pull back level.
He recovered his composure in the fifth leg but was still taken to the wire before winning it 4-2.
“When you are playing at Ally Pally you go through all the emotions,” Bunting told Sky Sports.
“I knew Sebastian was going to be tough and even at 2-0 he never gave in.
“I am lucky to get away with that one. I need to regroup, get back on the practice board and make sure I am ready for the next game.”
His second round opponent will be Nitin Kumar, who became the first Indian winner at the event when he beat Dutchman Richard Veenstra 3-2 earlier in the day.
Scotland’s Darren Beveridge made an impressive World Championship debut as he averaged 91.62 en route to a convincing 3-0 win over Dimitri Van den Bergh.
His Belgian opponent won just one leg in the one-sided encounter.
“This is absolutely fantastic,” Beveridge said. “I dreamed of this when I was 13 years old and 19 years later I’m managing to win games on this stage.
“This is one of the greatest days of my life and I cannot believe it, honestly.”
New Zealand’s Jonny Tata, another debutant, ended the hopes of world number 27 Ritchie Edhouse 3-0 and fellow newcomer Dom Taylor saw off Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak by the same scoreline.
Joe Cullen, the world number 32, was in good form as he eased past Bradley Brooks 3-0.
Dutchman Wesley Plaisier beat Germany’s Lukas Wenig 3-1, while in the final match of the evening James Hurrell saw off America’s Stowe Buntz 3-1.
